Chapter 717
July 26, 1888. | 25 Stat., 349.

An act granting to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company the right of way through the Nez Percé Indian Reservation.a

aRailroads through the Nez Percé Reservation in Idaho are provided for by the following other special acts: May 8, 1890, chapter 199 (post, p. 351); February 28, 1899, chapter 219 (post, p. 679), amended by May 14, 1902, chapter 788 (post, p. 750), and March 1, 1899, chapter 316 (post, p. 684).
For other legislation relative to this reservation see the act of August 15, 1894, chapter 290 (post, p. 536), and also those of May 27, 1878, chapter 142, ante, p. 175, and March 3, 1885, chapter 34 (23 stat., 378).

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the right of way is hereby granted, as hereinafter set forth, to the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company, a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the State of Oregon, for the extension of its railroad through the Nez Percé Indian Reservation, from a point on the western boundary of said reservation on the Clear Water River, in Idaho Territory, in an easterly direction, following the valley of said Clear Water River and the south fork of said river and branches of the same in a generally southerly and easterly direction to the eastern boundary of said reservation; also from a point on the northern boundary of said Nez

That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Interior to fix the amount of compensation to be paid the Indians for such right of way, and provide the time and manner for the payment thereof, and also to ascertain and fix the amount of compensation to be made individual members of the tribe for damages sustained by them by reason of the construction of said road; but no right of any kind shall vest in said railway company in or to any part of the right of way herein provided for until plats thereof, made upon actual survey for the definite location of such railroad, and including the points for station-buildings, depots, machine-shops, side-tracks, turnouts, and water-stations, shall be filed with and approved by the Secretary of the Interior, which approval shall be made in writing and be open for the inspection of any party interested therein, and until the compensation aforesaid has been fixed and paid; and the surveys, construction, and operation of such railroad, including charges of transportation, shall be conducted with due regard for the rights of the Indians, and in accordance with such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may make to carry out this provision: Provided, That the consent of the Indians to said right of way shall be obtained by said railroad company in such manner as the Secretary of the Interior shall prescribe, before any right under this act shall accrue to said company.

SEC. 4

That said company shall not assign or transfer or mortgage this right of way for any purpose whatever until said road shall be completed: Provided, That the company may mortgage said franchise, together with the rolling stock, for money to construct and complete said road: And provided further, That the right granted herein shall be lost and forfeited by said company unless the road is constructed and in running order across said reservation within two years from the passage of this act.

SEC. 5

That said railway company shall accept this right of way upon the expressed condition, binding upon itself, its successors and assigns, that they will neither aid, advise, nor assist in any effort looking towards the changing or extinguishing the present tenure of the Indians in their land, and will not attempt to secure from the Indian tribes any further grant of land or its occupancy than is hereinbefore provided: Provided, That any violation of the condition mentioned in this section shall operate as a forfeiture of all the rights and privileges of said railway company under this act.

SEC. 6

That Congress may at any time amend, add to, alter, or repeal this act.

Received by the President July 14, 1888.

[NOTE BY THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE.The foregoing act having been presented to the President of the United States for his approval, and not having been returned by him to the house of Congress in which it originated within the time prescribed by the Constitution of the United States, has become a law without his approval.]